Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $49.46 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,511 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up about 2.2% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Paychex worth $49,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 worth $913,599,000 after purchasing an additional 62,739 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 2.7% in 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 boosted 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 worth $524,359,000 after buying an additional 4,533,137 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reissued 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 increased their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $122.45. 2,134,626 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,797,050. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.09. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. 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.