Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 11,238 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,238 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $117,809,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Paychex by 179.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $156,854,000 after purchasing an additional 692,533 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Paychex by 209.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 838,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 567,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $108.81.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $90.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.90. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.89 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.15%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.