V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 122 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 31.2% in the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 19.1% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $433,000. Finally, Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 14.1% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.69. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $151.72. The firm has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Company 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.