Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,042 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,334 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Paychex were worth $8,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 13.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,998 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 50,544 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,782,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 12.6% during the third quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.85 on Wednesday, reaching $146.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,377,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,860. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $143.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.56.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.23.

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.