SouthState Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

SouthState Corp lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 1.8 %

PAYX opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $53.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.