Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 1,458 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,458 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for approximately 2.1% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,328,000 after acquiring an additional 51,085 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,193,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $144.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $51.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 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. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $142.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.