Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $148.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $142.63 and a 200-day moving average of $137.01. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.