Sepio Capital LP Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sepio Capital LP lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 658 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

About Paychex

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.