General Partner Inc. Buys Shares of 615 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 615 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $124.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 267,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,755,045. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.21 and a 200-day moving average of $122.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

About Paychex

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.