Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 13.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 4.7% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Paychex by 11.3% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Paychex by 18.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 130,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,573,000 after buying an additional 20,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $145.44 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.17. 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 data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Paychex Company 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.