Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 778 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Paychex by 152.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 805.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.89 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.