Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Trims Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 45.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,575,000 after purchasing an additional 22,457 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 26,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 75.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $145.66 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.63. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.