Wealth Alliance Acquires 115 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,186 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in Paychex by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.43. 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. The company has a market cap of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.