Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,919 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,295,000 after purchasing an additional 82,091 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.