Leavell Investment Management Inc. Buys 708 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Magnus Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $251,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 33,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 31.2% in the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 205.5% in the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,402,000 after purchasing an additional 17,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $148.63 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The firm has a market cap of $53.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.62.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.