Grandfield & Dodd LLC Has $53.63 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 382,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for about 3.3% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $53,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth grew 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 buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $151.67 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.71. The stock has a market cap of $54.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.