Vestcor Inc Sells 44,568 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 59.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 44,568 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its holdings in Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,494,000 after acquiring an additional 41,114 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after acquiring an additional 19,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $100.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.17 and its 200 day moving average is $100.42. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.85%.

Paychex Company 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.