Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $214,000 in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,554,000 after acquiring an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $123.00 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

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.