Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Invests $216,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 51,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 125.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 19,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 10,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $140.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.36 and its 200 day moving average is $134.67. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.