Beacon Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Beacon Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 433 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth boosted its position in Paychex by 469.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $147.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

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.