O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Paychex by 145.0% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 114,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,319,000 after buying an additional 67,994 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $990,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $263,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 422,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,777,000 after buying an additional 123,778 shares during the period. 71.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Paychex Price Performance
PAYX stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.95. 655,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,832,240. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.00. The stock has a market cap of $38.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.97. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.78 and a fifty-two week high of $139.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.
Paychex Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 11th were issued a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 10th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $119.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $119.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Bank of America lowered Paychex from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.79.
Paychex Profile
Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.
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