Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Sells 2,855 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $145.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $52.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $147.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.