Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Redmond Asset Management LLC

Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.60. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given 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 yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Paychex 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.