MSH Capital Advisors LLC Invests $2.32 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,315,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.62 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.51. The stock has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.