Choate Investment Advisors Has $708,000 Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 39.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,051 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,280 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors' holdings in Paychex were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

PAYX traded down $2.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $145.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,463,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,771,991. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve 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's fifty day moving average price is $147.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.23.

About Paychex

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.