Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 100 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.93. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Profile

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.