Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.50. The firm has a market cap of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.