United Asset Strategies Inc. Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $121.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.16.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.