LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,487 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,018 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 2.2% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $16,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 42.0% during 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 period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Paychex by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

PAYX stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $146.29. 2,115,501 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,045,988. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $142.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.43. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.