Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Ceera Investments LLC

Ceera Investments LLC reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,100 shares during the quarter. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Moment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the third quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $97.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.24. The stock has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be paid a $1.19 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.