Hendershot Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Hendershot Investments Inc. raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,425 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,030 shares during the period. Hendershot Investments Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $913,599,000 after purchasing an additional 62,739 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $783,975,000 after buying an additional 178,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $524,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 1.6 %

Paychex stock traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $124.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,913,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,790,373. The firm's 50 day moving average is $122.09 and its 200 day moving average is $119.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $44.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.

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