Amalgamated Bank Has $9.61 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,509 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Rogco LP raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Dohj LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $120.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,540,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,709. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $121.57 and a 200 day moving average of $120.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.