Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $12.65 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,449 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,277 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $12,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 1.2 %

PAYX traded down $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $148.51. 1,674,278 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,725,658. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $143.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.43. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.72. The stock has a market cap of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company 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 business earned $1.08 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.