Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 6,125 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi grew its position in Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $151.83 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.10.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.58.

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.