Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Signature Wealth Management Group

Signature Wealth Management Group reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Paychex makes up about 1.8% of Signature Wealth Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Signature Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $184,216,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $145.44 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.17.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.