Prana Capital Management LP Invests $33.29 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Prana Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 237,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,290,000. Paychex comprises about 1.6% of Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $152.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $54.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.49. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during 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%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.