William Allan Corp Purchases 534 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

William Allan Corp grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 534 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for about 3.1% of William Allan Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $150.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $142.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.80.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.