Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Core Alternative Capital

Core Alternative Capital lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up about 1.5% of Core Alternative Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $575,000 after purchasing 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 fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.01 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.