Natixis Advisors LLC Has $15.16 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,152 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.99 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.45 and a 200 day moving average of $142.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 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. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.