Candriam S.C.A. Raises Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,293 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 25,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,633,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $184,216,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 117.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 200.1% in the fourth quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 5,893 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 3,929 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $153.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $154.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Two 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, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.