7,073 Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Purchased by Tyche Wealth Partners LLC

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Paychex by 71.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,529,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance grew its position in Paychex by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 6,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 15,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 6,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $121.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,000,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,799,886. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.12. The stock has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given 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 2.94%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

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.