Bleakley Financial Group LLC Invests $1.30 Million in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 21,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares during the period. MSH Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,872,000 after buying an additional 7,299 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 701.9% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,694 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 14,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of PAYX opened at $95.51 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

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.