Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 553,097 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 478,987 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.15% of Paychex worth $77,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,215,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.47 on Tuesday, hitting $141.96. 978,009 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,893,705. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $148.73 and its 200 day moving average is $144.05. The stock has a market cap of $51.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.