National Pension Service Has $60.59 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

National Pension Service decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 37.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 432,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 255,976 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Paychex were worth $60,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3 %

Paychex stock opened at $148.76 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.86. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.30.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on 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 issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex 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.