Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,883 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,578 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.13% of Paychex worth $63,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.2% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $146.29. 2,115,501 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,988. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $142.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.19.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Paychex's payout ratio is 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.