Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by TIAA Trust National Association

TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Paychex were worth $958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after buying an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after acquiring an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.10. The company has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

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.