HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases 146 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 5,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 124,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,413,000 after buying an additional 12,705 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $154.59 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $148.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $55.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given 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 2.54%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.83.

Paychex Company 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.