Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 79,784 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 751.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,784 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.4 %

PAYX stock traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $120.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,540,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,805,405. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.57 and its 200-day moving average is $120.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex 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.