Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $6.10 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.10 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72. The company has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.