Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 13,704 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,704 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PAYX. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 154,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,328,000 after acquiring an additional 51,085 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,193,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $144.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $142.40 and a 200 day moving average of $134.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex 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.