Gator Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after buying an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,093,958,000 after buying an additional 78,760 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Paychex by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Paychex by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,882,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $323,352,000 after buying an additional 76,824 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. 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 report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $106.63.

Paychex Stock Up 1.4%

Paychex stock opened at $100.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $154.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $93.95 and its 200 day moving average is $100.07. The company has a market capitalization of $36.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

About Paychex

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.