Cerity Partners LLC Sells 4,508 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 355,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,508 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.10% of Paychex worth $49,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $140.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.05. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.