Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases 350 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $154.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $55.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. 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.