IVC Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Paychex makes up about 0.9% of IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Paychex by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in Paychex by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,557,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.0 %

Paychex stock opened at $144.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.89. The stock has a market cap of $52.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

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.