London Co. of Virginia Decreases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,647,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 99,926 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Paychex were worth $231,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 2,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Paychex by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 5,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 67,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 95,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 4,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $151.65 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $54.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.32.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.