MSH Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 7,299 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

MSH Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,299 shares during the period. MSH Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,790,000 after acquiring an additional 50,169 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $97.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.24. The company has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $106.38.

About Paychex

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.