Exeter Financial LLC Acquires 168 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Exeter Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $179,000. Marcum Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth $206,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,616,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the period. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $370,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $157.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $56.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $149.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.52.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Paychex

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.