MSH Capital Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

MSH Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 39.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,299 shares during the quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $31,000. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Stephens lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim began coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $97.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $92.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.85%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.