Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Makes New $216,000 Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exeter Financial LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 12,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,737,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,405,000. Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 25,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in Paychex by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.53 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.