Courier Capital LLC Has $3.61 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Courier Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,557,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 169.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 2.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.47 on Monday, hitting $140.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,239. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.35 and a 200-day moving average of $134.51. The company has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. 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 2.79%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.