Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Southeast Asset Advisors LLC

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,688 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after acquiring an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $2,405,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.88 and a 200-day moving average of $143.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders 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 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.