Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Raised by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $148.63 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. The company has a market capitalization of $53.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.98 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.