Bison Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related 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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $121.14 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.16. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

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

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.