Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Increased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,185 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,705 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $17,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup boosted 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, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded down $1.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $153.08. 1,291,769 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,880,086. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.73. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.