Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Buys 2,055 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,683 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $147.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,722,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,671. 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's 50 day moving average is $147.45 and its 200-day moving average is $142.50. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.