HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,309 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,755 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $23,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $184,216,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.
Paychex Price Performance
PAYX traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.53. 1,722,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,770,671. 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 company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.50.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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%. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Paychex Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of 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 price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.23.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Paychex
Paychex Profile
(
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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