Wedbush Securities Inc. Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 143,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,267,000 after buying an additional 2,717 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 334.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 260,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,966,000 after purchasing an additional 200,640 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 13,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Paychex by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 37,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,975,000 after buying an additional 4,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.