ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 628,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,921 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $70,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the second quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.5% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.3% during the third quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the third quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.
Paychex Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $94.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $161.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $92.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Paychex Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 104.85%.
Paychex Company Profile
Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.
Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.
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