Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Increased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. KFG Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Jacksonville Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $828,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 172,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 21,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

PAYX stock opened at $146.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $52.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.86.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.