Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Raised by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Monument Capital Management boosted its stake in Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.76 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.86. The stock has a market cap of $53.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.30. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio 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.