Hamlin Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,252,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 98,881 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 4.3% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $175,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,404.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,391,000 after acquiring an additional 317,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.29 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.43.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.