Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Soltis Investment Advisors boosted its Paychex stake by 41% in Q4, buying 19,310 more shares to bring its total to 66,390 shares valued at about $7.45 million.
• Other institutional investors also increased their Paychex holdings, and hedge funds and institutions now own 83.47% of the company.
• Paychex reported quarterly results that beat expectations, and the company raised its dividend to $1.19 per share from $1.08, implying a 5.2% yield.

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,390 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,310 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $7,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Paychex by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Paychex by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,805,391 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $355,650,000 after buying an additional 31,321 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,280,715 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $330,908,000 after buying an additional 17,869 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,979,330 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $250,900,000 after buying an additional 30,117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $91.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.34. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Paychex Company 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.

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