Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 267.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,736 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 91.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 255 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 80.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its holdings in Paychex by 254.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 319 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 110.1% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 28th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.63.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 41,329 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.79, for a total value of $4,785,484.91. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,642. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Up 0.9 %

Paychex stock opened at $117.52 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.46 and its 200-day moving average is $115.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.97.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 27th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.40% and a return on equity of 46.51%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.73%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.