Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 486 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Paychex 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.