Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Sells 144 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Paychex by 6.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,159,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Paychex by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.88 and a 200-day moving average of $143.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

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.