Claro Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Claro Advisors LLC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,241 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 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 lifted its position in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

PAYX traded up $1.31 on Monday, reaching $140.37. 866,049 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,801,138. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $50.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.51.

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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.