WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 327 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.9 %

Paychex stock opened at $147.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share 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 given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.