O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $10.63 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 33.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 47,944 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 47.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,790,000 after buying an additional 50,169 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.63.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $101.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $155.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 104.85%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.