Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 27.1% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,892,000 after buying an additional 6,186 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Paychex by 14.0% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 6.3% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in Paychex by 46.9% during the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after buying an additional 3,453 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $150.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.43. The company has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Company 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.