Modera Wealth Management LLC Increases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $153.37 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $154.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on 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. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.