Arizona State Retirement System Sells 390 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Monument Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $149.89 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $154.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.23.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.