Courier Capital LLC Acquires 393 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Courier Capital LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in Paychex by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 4,139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $140.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,239. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $142.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.