Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 13,854 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 886.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,854 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.74 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $151.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.