Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC Takes $367,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $156.09 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The firm has a market cap of $56.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.30. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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.