Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Paychex in the second quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4 %

Paychex stock opened at $146.29 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors 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 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.