Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Boosted by Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC

Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 64.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after buying an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,295,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $150.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.