LPL Financial LLC Purchases 66,633 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 795,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 66,633 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.22% of Paychex worth $111,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,978,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $1,272,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 130,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,294,000 after buying an additional 6,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,544,000 after buying an additional 3,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $144.13 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $147.91 and its 200-day moving average is $142.99. The firm has a market cap of $51.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex 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.