Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Rogco LP grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dohj LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded up $1.65 on Friday, reaching $120.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,540,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,805,405. The company’s fifty day moving average is $121.57 and its 200 day moving average is $120.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.