Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 108,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,207,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after purchasing an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $78,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $148.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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 issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

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.