Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,538 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $40,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,093,958,000 after acquiring an additional 78,760 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after acquiring an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,805,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $355,650,000 after acquiring an additional 31,321 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $101.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $155.57. The company has a market capitalization of $36.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.63.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.