Sigma Planning Corp Has $1.91 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in 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. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $144.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.81. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Paychex

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.