Essential Planning LLC. Purchases Shares of 14,555 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,555 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,066,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $866,000. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth about $315,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.7% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,234 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,923,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 831,967 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $111,642,000 after buying an additional 12,178 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded down $1.45 on Thursday, reaching $143.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,976,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,787,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.98. The company has a market capitalization of $51.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.23.

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.