Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Ethos Financial Group LLC

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after acquiring an additional 152,818 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 366.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Paychex by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $121.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,460,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,315. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $43.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $121.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.49. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America lifted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

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.