State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Acquires 28,199 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 67.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,100 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,199 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Paychex were worth $9,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's 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 sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.18 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $147.62 and its 200 day moving average is $144.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

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

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