Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $218,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 15.5% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 50,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,782,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.6% during the third quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.89. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. The firm has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

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.