Simplicity Solutions LLC Lowers Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Simplicity Solutions LLC decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $121.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.