Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.44 on Friday. 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 one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.