Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Trimmed by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $150.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $54.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $143.78 and its 200-day moving average is $139.36. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 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.