Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 4,988 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,904 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,988 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,648 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Paychex by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 55,502 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in Paychex by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,272 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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Paychex Stock Down 0.9 %

Paychex stock traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $145.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,293,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,154. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $52.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $146.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.95.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex's payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.23.

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.