Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RDA Financial Network grew its position in shares of Paychex by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 4,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 15,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $546,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,381,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 19,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.29 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. 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.