Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,275 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,958 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 38,655.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after buying an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2,404.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $46,391,000 after acquiring an additional 317,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $1.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $148.33. 524,037 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,690,243. 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 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.43. The firm has a market cap of $53.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Company 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.