Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,041 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 420,119 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,041 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Paychex worth $58,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Paychex by 6.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 70,347 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,440,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.72. 554,241 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,691,968. The company has a market capitalization of $53.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $151.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $143.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.43.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.23.

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.