Keeler Thomas Management LLC Sells 5,918 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Keeler Thomas Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 73.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,918 shares during the period. Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after buying an additional 11,243,295 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after buying an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $257,699,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,809,000. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,921,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $106.63.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $99.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.75 and a 200-day moving average of $100.07. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $154.90. 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 market cap of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 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.