Hendershot Investments Inc. Sells 263 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hendershot Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for about 1.3% of Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 2.2 %

Paychex stock opened at $146.74 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.05. The stock has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’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 EPS. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.