Chicago Capital LLC Sells 339 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Chicago Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.67 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s 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.