D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth 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 period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth 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 period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth 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 period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $150.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.43. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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.