Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 239,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,355 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.07% of Paychex worth $26,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,020,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,010,000. Fulcrum Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 50,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $108.81.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $91.70 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $86.89 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.15%.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.