Alpha Family Trust Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Alpha Family Trust acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Rogco LP increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.08 on Wednesday, hitting $126.98. 1,736,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,711. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 85.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.