Woodstock Corp Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Woodstock Corp trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $146.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.31 and a 200-day moving average of $134.90. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

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.