Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,164 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 62,411 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 23.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $508,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 633,834 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $84,294,000 after acquiring an additional 7,126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.58.

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Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.03. 2,419,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,895,574. The firm has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $148.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.30. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.