Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 478,987 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

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

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $10.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $143.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,049,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,885,809. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Company 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.