FourThought Financial LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

FourThought Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) by 22.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,125 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 35.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 118.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth $237,000. Institutional investors own 71.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total transaction of $1,584,683.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 33,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,835,800.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $117.00 to $114.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on Paychex to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Paychex from $131.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.69.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $108.67 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.66 and a 1 year high of $141.92. The company has a market cap of $39.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.56 and a 200 day moving average of $116.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. Paychex had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 45.50%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 78.02%.

Paychex Company Profile

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Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.