69,501 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Purchased by Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 69,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,797,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,877,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,626,000 after purchasing an additional 19,185 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 978,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,983,000 after purchasing an additional 270,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Paychex by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 63,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 16,812 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.63.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $100.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $36.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $154.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 104.85%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.