US Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,171 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,000. Paychex comprises 1.1% of US Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $122.40. The stock had a trading volume of 339,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,756,334. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.49. The company has a market cap of $44.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

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

Paychex Company 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.