Prospector Partners LLC Buys 345 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 345 shares during the quarter. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aristides Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 4,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Paychex by 112.5% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 42,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,959,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,299,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $322,407,000 after buying an additional 56,622 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 199,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,928,000 after buying an additional 101,177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $143.32 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 stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.