Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Acquires New Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 1.1 %

PAYX traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,354,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,131. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.54. The company has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 85.40%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.