Park Place Capital Corp Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Park Place Capital Corp lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 805.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $144.87 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.18 and its 200 day moving average is $135.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.