Verity Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Verity Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,633 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank grew its position in Paychex by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,761,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 181.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 34,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $149.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.52. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.