Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Raised by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in Paychex by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 14,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,553,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,666,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 261,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,687,000 after purchasing an additional 9,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $145.44 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex 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.