Tompkins Financial Corp Sells 86 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Tompkins Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.90. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The firm has a market cap of $52.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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%. The company’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 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.