Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $16.85 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $231,295,000 after purchasing an additional 82,091 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $145.44 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.06 and its 200 day moving average is $142.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.