Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 195,724 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wells Fargo & Company MN cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,379,731 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 195,724 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 2.61% of Paychex worth $1,315,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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Paychex Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of PAYX traded down $2.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $140.49. 4,651,118 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,896,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $50.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid 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 2.79%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.