Distillate Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,837 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 168,019 shares during the period. Distillate Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $18,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in 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. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,153,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,710. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $148.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

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Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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.