DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Vertex Planning Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Paychex by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 241,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,900,000 after acquiring an additional 61,123 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46,254.4% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 57,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,125,000 after buying an additional 57,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $151.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.23. 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 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.