Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,458,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,308 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $204,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $151.03 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Paychex 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.