New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 317,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,400 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $44,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $150.04 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.36. The firm has a market cap of $54.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.