Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $30.56 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 256,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,826 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $30,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after buying an additional 170,453 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after purchasing an additional 178,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 5.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after acquiring an additional 246,791 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,022,000 after buying an additional 182,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $303,441,000 after purchasing an additional 554,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $120.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $121.48 and its 200 day moving average is $120.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

About Paychex

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.