Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by ProVise Management Group LLC

ProVise Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,163 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 99,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Paychex by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,099,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 33,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,485,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 7.2% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $147.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $147.60 and its 200-day moving average is $142.53. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors 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 2.66%. Paychex’s payout ratio 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.