Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $153.99 and last traded at $154.29, with a volume of 207258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $151.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Paychex Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $54.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.17. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Paychex by 6.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 70,347 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,440,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 6.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,159,000 after acquiring an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 151.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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.