Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $145.44 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The firm has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

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.