Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Acquired by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 64.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $117,809,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,921,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in Paychex by 15.9% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Paychex by 38.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $235,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 3.2%

PAYX stock opened at $94.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.