Howland Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Howland Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Barclays upped their target price on 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. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.05. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.