Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $138,000 Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Dohj LLC raised its position in Paychex by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $125.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.28 and a 200 day moving average of $122.07. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.