Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,241 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,241 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. 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 last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.6 %

Paychex stock opened at $145.23 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

Paychex 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.