Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 201,855 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,609 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.06% of Paychex worth $28,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.83.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $3.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $154.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,910,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,618. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $148.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.51. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $55.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Paychex Company 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.