Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,334 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.89. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

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.