Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Increased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,457 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $152.79. 2,206,031 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,764,296. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $154.98. The firm has a market cap of $55.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $145.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.91. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.