Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adero Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $2,050,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4,080.3% during the 4th quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,163,000 after acquiring an additional 119,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.87 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $151.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.71. The firm has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.