Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,906 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 33,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 754 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd boosted its position in Paychex by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 3,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 24,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,735,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 2.0 %

Paychex stock opened at $151.67 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.