Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Avion Wealth

Avion Wealth boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 469.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Avion Wealth’s holdings in Paychex were worth $34,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.