Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dohj LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $120.63. 837,892 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,794,284. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.42. The stock has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Paychex

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.