Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Buys 178 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 207,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $29,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day moving average of $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.