Leavell Investment Management Inc. Acquires 708 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Barclays upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $143.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.62. The company has a market capitalization of $53.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.