Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Reduced by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Up 1.3 %

PAYX stock opened at $145.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.09. The firm has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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 business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

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.