OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $3.28 Million in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 35,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,276,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. First Long Island Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 23.9% in the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,626,000 after purchasing an additional 19,185 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 35.9% in the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 63,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 16,812 shares during the period. LBP AM SA raised its position in shares of Paychex by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 40,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,545,000 after buying an additional 22,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 79,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,942,000 after buying an additional 11,805 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.67.

Paychex Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $99.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.62 and a 200 day moving average of $99.14. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $148.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.34%.

Paychex 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.