Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 617 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Paychex by 152.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued 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 assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $146.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,115,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,045,988. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.98. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.