iA Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires 8,912 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,912 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $6,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Amundi boosted its position in Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $145.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a PEG 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. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.70 and a 200-day moving average of $142.55.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.