King Luther Capital Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,029 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $145.01 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.