2,831 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Purchased by AlTi Global Inc.

AlTi Global Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $149.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The firm has a market cap of $53.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.01.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.