Investment House LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Investment House LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Paychex accounts for about 1.4% of Investment House LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $25,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $3,351,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 6.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 0.7 %

PAYX opened at $146.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Company Profile

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.