Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 628,912 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 86.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.38% of Paychex worth $189,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 613 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 241,697 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,432,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Paychex by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in Paychex by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,024 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $153.35. The company had a trading volume of 751,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,877,573. The stock has a market cap of $55.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50 day moving average price is $148.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.73. 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 $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

About Paychex

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.