Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 768,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,983 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Paychex worth $107,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $151.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company 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 firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

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.