Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,533,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 609,926 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.70% of Paychex worth $355,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $140.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.05. The stock has a market cap of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

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.