Heritage Trust Co Acquires Shares of 6,710 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 6,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Barclays PLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at $210,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.8% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 87,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $593,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $146.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.30. The company has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

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.