Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 280 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $152.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 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 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.