Access Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Access Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Paychex accounts for about 0.8% of Access Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after buying an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,557,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $146.29 on Monday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.31. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The stock has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.