Indie Asset Partners LLC Has $236,000 Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Indie Asset Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 564 shares during the period. Indie Asset Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 64,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,102,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $148.51 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.60.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.