Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 974 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $151.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $143.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.99.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

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.