Moment Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Moment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.50.

Paychex Stock Up 4.2 %

PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.04. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.