ING Groep NV Reduces Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

ING Groep NV cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,279 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $148.51 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.60. The company has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.