Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Amundi

Amundi lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 77.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.43% of Paychex worth $215,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $145.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,780,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,789. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $52.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.97.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.23.

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.