Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Paychex by 16.9% in 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 buying an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $151.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.