Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.40 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $143.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.13.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Paychex 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.