Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $1.28 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $143.49 and its 200-day moving average is $139.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Paychex 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.