Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $144.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $142.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. 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.