Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Raised by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Paychex by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,371,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Paychex by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 44,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,256,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $147.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $142.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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 business 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%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

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.