Vertex Planning Partners LLC Invests $210,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.58.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $151.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.10. The firm has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.