Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 404 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 404 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after acquiring an additional 152,818 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 366.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Paychex by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after acquiring an additional 466,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Paychex stock traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $121.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,070,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,053. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week 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 $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.48.

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

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned 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.