Sepio Capital LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sepio Capital LP reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 658 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 112.5% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 42,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,959,000 after acquiring an additional 22,500 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,299,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $322,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,622 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Paychex by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 199,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,928,000 after purchasing an additional 101,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.88 and its 200 day moving average is $143.91. The company has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

About Paychex

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.