Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Trims Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,195 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $158.19 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.89. 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 stock has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

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.