Reflection Asset Management Purchases Shares of 9,527 Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup raised Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.19.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $98.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.64. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $152.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.