Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Lessened by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 73.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,623 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,593 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,262,700,000 after acquiring an additional 190,937 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $231,295,000 after acquiring an additional 82,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $152.10. 1,867,538 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,808,243. 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 company has a market capitalization of $54.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $154.98. The company's fifty day moving average is $145.72 and its 200 day moving average is $141.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.23.

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.