Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 748 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 748 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.53 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.53. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.