Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,537 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Paychex worth $49,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jackson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $3,707,000. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its position in shares of Paychex by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 14,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $149.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $150.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.