Clean Yield Group Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 49.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,328,000 after buying an additional 51,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 286.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 12,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in Paychex by 125.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 19,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after buying an additional 10,904 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities 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, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $140.68. 785,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,790,277. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.51.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.