Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 45,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Paychex by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 149,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,433,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,551,000 after purchasing an additional 208,130 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Paychex by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 662,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,855,000 after purchasing an additional 28,376 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $140.49 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.05.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.