Leisure Capital Management Has $1.15 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leisure Capital Management reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 314,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,123,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $147.67 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.69 and a 200-day moving average of $137.35. 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 (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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

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.