Meritage Portfolio Management Has $2.44 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised 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 buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $150.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.