D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 122 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Monument Capital Management grew its position in Paychex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $150.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $143.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.43.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.