Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 113 shares during the quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $146.95 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $143.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.