ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Has $308,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 131.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Paychex by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 6.8% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,267,000 after buying an additional 113,856 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $139.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.07 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $142.35 and its 200-day moving average is $134.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.