Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th 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 shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $153.48 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $154.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $146.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.64. 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 cap of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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. 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%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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, 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. Two equities research 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, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.