Welch & Forbes LLC Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 404,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,087 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Paychex worth $48,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 337.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $178,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,539 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 229.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,441,000 after buying an additional 554,968 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Paychex by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 38.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 990,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,179,000 after acquiring an additional 276,446 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded up $0.53 on Monday, reaching $120.63. The company had a trading volume of 837,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,284. The company has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.42 and a 200-day moving average of $120.44. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.