Brookstone Capital Management Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 37.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 661 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,623,093,000 after buying an additional 487,031 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after purchasing an additional 182,648 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $320,151,000 after purchasing an additional 56,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $118.38 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $42.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.46.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

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.