Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Paychex by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 14,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,977,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,811,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $142,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $148.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.81. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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. 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 business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.