Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 3,796 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,796 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.01 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.80. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.