PDS Planning Inc Buys 215 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.76. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.11.

Paychex 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.