Aristides Capital LLC Has $628,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Aristides Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management lifted its stake in Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

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.