Candriam S.C.A. Has $5.21 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,127 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,293 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $231,295,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $145.01. The stock had a trading volume of 2,779,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $146.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53, a PEG 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex 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.