Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 778 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Paychex by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.89 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.