Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Has $1.62 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Paychex by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 86,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,253,000 after buying an additional 8,208 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 688,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,335,000 after purchasing an additional 53,544 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 131,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,690,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $152.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.09. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $154.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.