AXQ Capital LP Makes New $1.27 Million Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,272,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in 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. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $143.02 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.63. The firm has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.