Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.02 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.78. The firm has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.