London Co. of Virginia Cuts Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

London Co. of Virginia reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,445,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 74,629 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned about 0.40% of Paychex worth $162,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in 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. State Street Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,218,000 after buying an additional 216,045 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,295,698,000 after purchasing an additional 263,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after purchasing an additional 78,760 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $100.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $35.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.85. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $154.29.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

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.