Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Lessened by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,431 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 606 shares during the quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 6.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,159,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after purchasing an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $144.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.99. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 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.