Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Holdings Reduced by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its position in Paychex by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 275,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its position in Paychex by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 14,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,520,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.95 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.56. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72. The firm has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’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 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.