Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Monument Capital Management grew its stake in Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $152.00 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $145.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.09. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $154.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. 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.