Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,511 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $117,809,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,921,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 15.9% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after acquiring an additional 557,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 38.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $235,286,000 after acquiring an additional 511,728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Guggenheim started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $95.51 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.84. The company has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.