Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,451,943,000 after buying an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after buying an additional 927,584 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,599,000 after buying an additional 62,739 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after buying an additional 178,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,359,000 after buying an additional 4,533,137 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $122.80 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.51. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.94.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

About Paychex

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.