14,555 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Acquired by Essential Planning LLC.

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,066,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 122.1% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 64,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,032,000 after buying an additional 35,407 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 169,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,741,000 after buying an additional 25,755 shares during the period. Bender Robert & Associates purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Cushing Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $860,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.01 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $146.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.97. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.