Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 12,433 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Ritholtz Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,433 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,809,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 838,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 567,352 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Paychex by 15.9% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 38.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,728 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $88.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.22. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 95.15%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex 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.