F M Investments LLC Purchases New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,185 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 47,638 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,680,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 53,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,520,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in Paychex by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 341,153 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $46,196,000 after buying an additional 186,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 31,593 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,430,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $144.90. 2,148,167 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,914,420. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.59. The firm has a market cap of $52.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

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.