UMB Bank n.a. Lowers Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,187 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,358 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 14,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 43,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 3,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.