Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.74 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $143.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72. The firm has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.