Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Richwood Investment Advisors LLC

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $19,978,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,272,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Paychex by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 130,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,294,000 after buying an additional 6,005 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,544,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Paychex by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 30,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,257,000 after buying an additional 9,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $143.02 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.