Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Cut by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.50.

Paychex Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.04. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.