By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Verity Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,633 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,761,000 after purchasing an additional 4,242 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Paychex by 21.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Paychex by 181.6% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 4,912 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 34,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,606,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.
Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %
Shares of PAYX opened at $149.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $142.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.52. The stock has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Paychex Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.
View Our Latest Report on Paychex
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.
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