Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Paychex by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 128,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,313,000 after acquiring an additional 8,221 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 24,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 13,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Up 2.0 %

PAYX opened at $151.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $145.23 and a 200-day moving average of $140.50.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target 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 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.