Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,609 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,704 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $8,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 38,655.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $107,340,000 after buying an additional 797,843 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Paychex by 2,404.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $46,391,000 after purchasing an additional 317,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $146.84. 2,262,960 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,098,836. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $52.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $142.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.90. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.