Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is Troy Asset Management Ltd’s 8th Largest Position

Troy Asset Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 735,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 180,332 shares during the period. Paychex comprises about 3.5% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $103,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Avion Wealth raised its stake 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 period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on 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 issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a PEG 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.23.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.