Royal Bank of Canada Sells 43,475 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,808,944 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 43,475 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.50% of Paychex worth $253,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,444 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $2,419,000. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Paychex by 92.1% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 12,263 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" 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 company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,217,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,775. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The firm has a market cap of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.80 and a 200-day moving average of $145.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Activity

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

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.