MWA Asset Management Buys 76 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MWA Asset Management increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Paychex by 42.0% in the third 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 period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $146.74 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $143.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.89.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 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.