Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 8,519 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,774 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,519 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $6.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $150.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,429,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,913. The company has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.91 and a 200-day moving average of $142.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid 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 2.61%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.