FourThought Financial Partners LLC Invests $514,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Monument Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.18. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price 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. raised their target price on shares of 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 set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.