PGGM Investments Has $3.71 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

PGGM Investments raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,664 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Paychex were worth $3,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $146.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.98. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.73%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two 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, the company presently 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.