Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,169 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.2% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 70,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,440,000 after buying an additional 4,082 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 151.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.51 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72. 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 capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $144.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.60.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price 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 issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.