Royal Fund Management LLC Reduces Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,177 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after buying an additional 178,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $516,858,000 after buying an additional 246,791 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,022,000 after buying an additional 182,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,441,000 after acquiring an additional 554,968 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.10. 1,540,545 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,951,709. The firm has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.40. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.