Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Boosted by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 314,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for 2.9% of Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Paychex were worth $44,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after purchasing an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,262,700,000 after acquiring an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew 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 valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $231,295,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $147.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.28. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.