Exeter Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Exeter Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Paychex by 19.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after buying an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $140.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.67. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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 raised their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.