ORG Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 89.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 494 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 91.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $122.45 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.28 and its 200 day moving average is $120.12.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

About Paychex

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.