Washington Trust Bank Sells 184 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Washington Trust Bank reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $184,216,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $143.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.