V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $889,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $147.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.69. The firm has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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 reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.