Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 354 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’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 value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents 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 link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

Paychex stock opened at $159.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

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.