Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Lifted by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,468 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,664 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments' holdings in Paychex were worth $3,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 51,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,247,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,241,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,820 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $2,066,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Paychex Trading Down 0.7 %

PAYX stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $146.99. 1,351,126 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,768,920. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $52.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $147.30 and its 200-day moving average is $142.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 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.