Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Decreased by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 637 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $231,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,517,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 29,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,166,000 after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 4.2 %

PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.03 and a 200-day moving average of $143.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

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.