Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Decreased by Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Paychex comprises about 1.6% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $508,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Paychex by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 633,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,294,000 after acquiring an additional 7,126 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.03 and its 200-day moving average is $143.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.50.

Paychex 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.