Vestcor Inc Has $11.16 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $11,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 5,872 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $866,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $315,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,923,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 831,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,642,000 after buying an additional 12,178 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Paychex stock opened at $145.01 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.97.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.