Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 1,439 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.77 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $142.14 and its 200-day moving average is $135.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.