New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,400 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of Paychex worth $44,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.04 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.78 and a 200-day moving average of $139.36. 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 company has a market cap of $54.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.