DnB Asset Management AS Buys 561 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 170,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 241,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,900,000 after purchasing an additional 61,123 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Paychex by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,542,000 after acquiring an additional 23,359 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 46,254.4% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 57,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,125,000 after buying an additional 57,818 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.58.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $151.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $148.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.23. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.67%.

Paychex 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.