Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,758 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 39.8% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.79. 1,070,110 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.48. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93.

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

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued 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 $123.00.

Paychex Profile

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.