Kestra Investment Management LLC Buys 2,115 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 47.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 4,234.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 7,665 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 133,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,430,000. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 10,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.40 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72. The stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Paychex 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.