L.M. Kohn & Company Has $1.15 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

L.M. Kohn & Company lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,295,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.25 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.83. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.