American Century Companies Inc. Has $15.54 Million Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,853 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,721 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded down $6.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $146.63. 1,206,688 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,879,978. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $52.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

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.