Tran Capital Management L.P. Has $1.11 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Tran Capital Management L.P. cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third 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. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.11 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.16. The firm has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.