Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $184.22 Million in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,313,768 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $184,216,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Paychex at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $3.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,253,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,835,842. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.54. The company has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $154.98.

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Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Paychex's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.23.

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.