Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 323 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 337.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $178,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,539 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 229.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,456 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Paychex by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after acquiring an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,441,000 after acquiring an additional 554,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.77.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $122.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,616,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,974. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.51.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.90%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.11%.

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.