Albion Financial Group UT Reduces Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Albion Financial Group UT decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,373 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 18.2% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 5.3% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 7,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $108.81.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $91.85 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.89 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Paychex Company Profile

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.