Physicians Financial Services Inc. Buys 100 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after buying an additional 9,681 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,186 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Paychex by 14.0% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 6.3% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,453 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $150.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $143.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.43.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.