Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,506 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2,404.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,391,000 after acquiring an additional 317,634 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $147.01 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a PEG 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders 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 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.