Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,547 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Paychex were worth $15,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Paychex by 15.5% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 12.6% during the third quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Paychex by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 2.2 %

Paychex stock opened at $146.74 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $151.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment 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, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.