Baillie Gifford & Co. Purchases New Shares in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 181,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,430,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.05% of Paychex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 169.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.