RWA Wealth Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Amundi grew its stake in Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,215,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.83.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $154.28 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.51. The company has a market capitalization of $55.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.