Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after acquiring an additional 178,316 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after buying an additional 246,791 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Paychex by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after purchasing an additional 182,648 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,441,000 after purchasing an additional 554,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Monday, hitting $120.63. 837,892 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,794,284. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.42. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

About Paychex

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.