Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 347,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,537 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $49,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 169.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $149.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.