Cresset Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 58.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,543 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,766 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP raised its position in Paychex by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 11,241 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Paychex by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 140,829 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $19,747,000 after purchasing an additional 16,724 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Paychex by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 68,191 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,562,000 after purchasing an additional 10,618 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $1,007,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 109,133 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,096 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $155.50. The company had a trading volume of 455,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,076,487. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $147.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.59. The stock has a market cap of $56.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, 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 $158.37. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.00%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Profile

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.