Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Acquires 178 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 178 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Paychex worth $29,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 6.7 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.91. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 81.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

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.