Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Wendell David Associates Inc.

Wendell David Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,970 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Paychex by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 805.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $144.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $142.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.83. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.