Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 171,827 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,853 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $24,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,328,000 after purchasing an additional 51,085 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $239,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Paychex by 1.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,206,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 7.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,112 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,317,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

Paychex stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $146.29. 2,115,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business's 50 day moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day moving average is $135.31. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. 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.