Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys 48,965 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 327,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,965 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Paychex were worth $45,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 8.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 45.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 22,457 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,290,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 26,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,084,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Paychex by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $145.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid 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 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research 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 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.