Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) by 26.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,094 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,982,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,476,595,000 after purchasing an additional 642,649 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,275,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,397,188,000 after purchasing an additional 411,556 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,277,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,852,000 after purchasing an additional 107,263 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,144,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,115,000 after purchasing an additional 379,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,977,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $339,087,000 after purchasing an additional 238,513 shares in the last quarter. 71.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $107.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.66 and a 52 week high of $141.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. Paychex had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 45.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Paychex from $131.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Paychex from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.69.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total value of $1,584,683.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at $3,835,800.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company Profile

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Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.