Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Takes $305,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 39.8% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $121.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,070,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,053. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.40 and its 200 day moving average is $120.48. The company has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.