Moment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 6,773 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Monument Capital Management boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. UBS Group boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.