Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 3,340 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,340 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $14,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 7,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $982,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $671,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $148.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 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 company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $144.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.60.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.