Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Acquires 425 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $143.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $147.77 and its 200 day moving average is $142.78. 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 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

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.