MCF Advisors LLC Increases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 117.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 899 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,623,093,000 after purchasing an additional 487,031 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,022,000 after buying an additional 182,648 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $320,151,000 after buying an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,492,000 after acquiring an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $118.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $122.38 and a 200 day moving average of $121.95.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.