Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Paychex by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 149,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,814 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,433,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,551,000 after purchasing an additional 208,130 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Paychex by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 662,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,855,000 after purchasing an additional 28,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 780,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,456,000 after buying an additional 30,085 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. 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, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $146.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $148.12 and its 200-day moving average is $144.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.