ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 456,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 76,410 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $64,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Up 1.6%

PAYX opened at $154.43 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $55.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.59.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. 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 2.80%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Profile

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.