Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Stock Holdings Lowered by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 33.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 47,944 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in Paychex by 957.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $101.10 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $155.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.61 and a 200-day moving average of $100.16. The firm has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 104.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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 assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.63.

About Paychex

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.