Marshall Financial Group LLC Sells 6,766 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Marshall Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 68.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,766 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised 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 holdings in Paychex by 152.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in the 3rd 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. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

PAYX stock opened at $146.11 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. 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 cap of $52.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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