Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Buys Shares of 1,992 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.23. 1,354,383 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,539,131. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.48.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.