Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 62.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,437,691 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,376,059 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.40% of Paychex worth $201,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.41 on Thursday, hitting $153.53. 2,623,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,884,810. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $148.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.73.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.83.

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.