West Paces Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

West Paces Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 91.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

PAYX traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $121.14. 1,996,256 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,799,825. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.12. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.