Weaver Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third 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 grew 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.2% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company 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 given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.71. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.