Bollard Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Bollard Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,396 shares during the quarter. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,877,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares in the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after buying an additional 19,185 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 978,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,983,000 after buying an additional 270,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 63,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after buying an additional 16,812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $100.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.95 and its 200 day moving average is $100.07. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $154.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.63.

Paychex Company Profile

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.