Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $18.35 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 130,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,145 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 12,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,575,000 after buying an additional 22,457 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% during the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 5,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $146.29 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00. 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 50-day simple moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.43.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.