Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 770 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $142.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.89. 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 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

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.