ABC Arbitrage SA Has $564,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

ABC Arbitrage SA cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 82.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,182 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,511 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $117,809,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $75,921,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in Paychex by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after acquiring an additional 557,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $235,286,000 after acquiring an additional 511,728 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Guggenheim began coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PAYX opened at $93.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.54 and a 200 day moving average of $102.92. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.84. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current 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 is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.85%.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.