World Equity Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,644 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

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

Paychex Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.51 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.81. The firm has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.