Albion Financial Group UT Sells 737 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Albion Financial Group UT reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 737 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after buying an additional 22,457 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 26,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,084,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 75.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.66 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.18 and its 200 day moving average is $135.83. The firm has a market cap of $52.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.