Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 80,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,509 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $120.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,540,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,709. The company has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

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

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.