Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.04. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

Paychex 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.