King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 1,038 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,038 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 953,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,611,000 after acquiring an additional 10,208 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 8,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, STF Management LP boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. STF Management LP now owns 6,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.08. 186,278 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,739,161. The company has a market capitalization of $45.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.05 and its 200-day moving average is $121.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.