Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys 6,459 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,870 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,459 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Paychex were worth $6,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $184,216,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in 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 raised 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 valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Paychex by 2,404.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $46,391,000 after purchasing an additional 317,634 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Paychex Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $145.01. 2,780,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,786,789. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.97. The firm has a market cap of $52.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. 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 reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.