Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 85 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $149.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.23. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $154.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

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.