Argyle Capital Management LLC Acquires 590 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for 1.8% of Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 128,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,313,000 after acquiring an additional 8,221 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $148.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.30. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.86. The company has a market capitalization of $53.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.