Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by KFG Wealth Management LLC

KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $2,557,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 169.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $146.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The firm has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PAYX. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.