Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,589 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 702 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,887,000 after buying an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 366.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 16,391 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Paychex by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after acquiring an additional 466,890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $121.79 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $121.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $43.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 77.56%.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.