Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $1.41 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 32.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,392 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,698,000 after purchasing an additional 263,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,093,958,000 after purchasing an additional 78,760 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens decreased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.19.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $98.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $152.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.19 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. 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.