Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Reduced by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYXFree Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Paychex by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 69,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,738,000 after purchasing an additional 4,159 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Paychex by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on PAYX

Paychex Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $151.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $54.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.44.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Paychex Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)

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