Gray Wealth Management Inc. Sells 99 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during 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. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock 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 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.