Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,428 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.