EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $4.87 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,699 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,665 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $4,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 102.5% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 26,251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 13,286 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP raised its position in shares of Paychex by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 11,241 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,596 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Paychex by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 140,829 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $19,747,000 after purchasing an additional 16,724 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Paychex by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 68,191 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,562,000 after purchasing an additional 10,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX remained flat at $151.69 during trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 408,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,997. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.07 and a 200-day moving average of $145.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

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.