Colonial River Investments LLC Buys New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth 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 period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

PAYX opened at $149.89 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $144.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.99. The company has a market cap of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.