Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 173 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 24,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after buying an additional 8,519 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,808,000 after buying an additional 8,912 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Paychex by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 115,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,176,000 after purchasing an additional 13,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in Paychex by 167.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $143.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $147.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.71. 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 one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.