Amalgamated Bank Sells 1,081 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after acquiring an additional 9,681 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Paychex by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 86,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,616,000 after purchasing an additional 4,521 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 15.1% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.8% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,394 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $151.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $144.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.