Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 633 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for approximately 3.1% of Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $145.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $52.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.63.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.