Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Grows Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 151.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,872 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 23.4% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.7% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.3% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $145.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $147.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.09. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.