Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 219 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $148.88 and its 200 day moving average is $143.91. The stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

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.