Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 101 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 51,085 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,206,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 10.4% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 24,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 92,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,998,000 after acquiring an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.19. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’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 earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

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.