Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Holdings Cut by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 420,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,041 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Paychex worth $58,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 38,655.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,340,000 after acquiring an additional 797,843 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2,404.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,391,000 after buying an additional 317,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in Paychex by 2,139.2% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,667,000 after buying an additional 282,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

PAYX stock opened at $150.04 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.36. The company has a market cap of $54.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.