Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,764 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,123 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.07% of Paychex worth $33,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after acquiring an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $154.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,108,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,878,992. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company's 50-day moving average price is $148.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.73.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. Paychex's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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 was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.83.

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.