Forte Capital LLC ADV Sells 23,058 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Forte Capital LLC ADV cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 68.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,058 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $150.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.43. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The stock has a market cap of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.