Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s 10th Largest Position

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lowered its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,561 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up 2.2% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI owned approximately 0.05% of Paychex worth $27,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 5,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $153.48 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $154.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.54.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.