Callahan Advisors LLC Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Callahan Advisors LLC cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 82,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,084 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 19.1% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 18.6% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.1% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $147.25 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

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.