Zullo Investment Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $150.04 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.72. The company has a market capitalization of $54.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.36.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.