1,437 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Purchased by Keudell Morrison Wealth Management

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Paychex by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,038,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Paychex by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 143,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,960,000 after purchasing an additional 33,047 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Paychex by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,761,000 after purchasing an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 120,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,164,000 after purchasing an additional 42,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

PAYX opened at $147.67 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 4.01 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.01.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.