Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $6.14 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for about 1.6% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

PAYX opened at $146.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.31. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.