Headlands Technologies LLC Takes $2.33 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,596 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,327,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $10.21 on Friday, hitting $143.32. 3,049,779 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,885,809. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm's 50-day moving average is $148.88 and its 200 day moving average is $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

About Paychex

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.