Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $1.65 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Howe & Rusling Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,346 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $184,216,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.04. The company has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.50.

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.