Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 5,510 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,337 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,510 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $19,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $150.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,091,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,738,720. 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 fifty day moving average of $143.61 and a 200-day moving average of $139.28. The company has a market capitalization of $54.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Paychex's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

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.