Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 323 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $123.00 price objective (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.77.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $122.80. 1,616,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,677,974. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.94. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $121.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.51.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 79.11%.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.