Forum Financial Management LP Buys 658 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,419,878,000 after buying an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Paychex by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Down 0.1%

PAYX opened at $156.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $56.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.