Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 8,633 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cullinan Associates Inc. cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,768 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,633 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 10,741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,279,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 33,211 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,956,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 11,766.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 249,780 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,751,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,239,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 2.0 %

Paychex stock traded up $2.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $122.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,052,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,896. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $121.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.62. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.

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