Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,027 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,352 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Paychex were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,971 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $370,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC increased its position in Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.55.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $159.31. 958,163 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,907,111. The business's 50 day moving average price is $150.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $162.13.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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.