Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,675,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 28,742 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 1.2% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $234,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,404.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,391,000 after purchasing an additional 317,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after purchasing an additional 282,487 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $153.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $55.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $154.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $145.51 and a 200-day moving average of $140.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 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.