EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $3.77 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Paychex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,520 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 337.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $178,162,000 after buying an additional 1,191,539 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $115,494,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Paychex by 123.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,386,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,141,000 after acquiring an additional 766,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.99. 1,144,904 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,751,057. The firm has a market cap of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.