Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Invests $342,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.77.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

PAYX stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $122.80. 1,608,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,677,849. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.50.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.11%.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.