Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 62,414 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,752,000.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,216,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Paychex by 46.2% during 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 5.5% during 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 buying an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.23.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Paychex
Paychex Stock Performance
NASDAQ PAYX traded down $2.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,764,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,917. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.63.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.
About Paychex
(
Free Report)
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.
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