National Bank of Canada FI Buys 14,071 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 272,810 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,071 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.08% of Paychex worth $38,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

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Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $10.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,049,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,885,809. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $148.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.91. The company has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 payout ratio is 81.67%.

Paychex 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.