JGP Wealth Management LLC Acquires 620 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for 1.7% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $13,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% during 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 period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2,404.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 317,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in Paychex by 2,139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after purchasing an additional 282,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.31 and its 200 day moving average is $134.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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 return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.