MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Has $9.20 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,177 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,089.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 95,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,329,000 after purchasing an additional 87,062 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 117.6% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 4,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 314,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Insider Activity 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 directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $156.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.46. The stock has a market cap of $56.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

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.