Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 455,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,578 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for approximately 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.13% of Paychex worth $63,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 51,085 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 5.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth approximately $239,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,206,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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 lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

PAYX stock opened at $146.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.98. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

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.