GoalVest Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $2,419,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 65,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $157.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.52. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased 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, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.