Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 85.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 163,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,417 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $22,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted 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, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.67%.

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.