Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Lessened by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 90.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,312 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Paychex Stock Up 1.8 %

PAYX stock opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. 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 company has a market cap of $53.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.