Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $148.05 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $142.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.01. The firm has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Paychex Profile

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.