Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Lifted by Fiduciary Financial Group LLC

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 49.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,328,000 after buying an additional 51,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 2.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 5.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Paychex in the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

Paychex stock opened at $141.71 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Company 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.