Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,719 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 16,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Intrua Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $272,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 43,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 16,925 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,241,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital raised its holdings in Paychex by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $94.92 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.38.

About Paychex

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.