Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,115 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 47.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,588 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. State Street Corp grew its position in Paychex by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,775,365,000 after buying an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 82,091 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $148.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,674,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,658. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $151.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.