Gallacher Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.9% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 4,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 42,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,853,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 52.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $120.10. 1,540,545 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,951,709. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.42.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.56%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.