HM Payson & Co. Buys 530 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 711,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,698,000 after purchasing an additional 16,088 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 44,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,459 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Bradyco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $681,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $153.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $146.33 and its 200-day moving average is $141.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $154.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company 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 revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend 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.