Swedbank AB Decreases Stake in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Paychex stake by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,356 shares and leaving it with 182,156 shares valued at about $20.4 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Paychex is cautious, with several analysts cutting price targets; the stock now carries a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.
• Paychex reported solid quarterly results and raised its dividend, beating earnings and revenue estimates while lifting its quarterly payout to $1.19 per share, implying a 4.9% annual yield.

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 182,156 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 23,356 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of Paychex worth $20,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the second quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.5% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.3% in the third quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,509,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $97.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.24. The stock has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.Paychex's revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas "Tom" Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company's core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers' compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.

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