Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 201,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,609 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.06% of Paychex worth $28,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

Paychex Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.04. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, 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 current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. 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.