Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Boosted by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 2,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $914,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 132,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,573,000 after purchasing an additional 5,906 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $153.37 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $154.48.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.