Cidel Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 38,655.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 799,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,340,000 after purchasing an additional 797,843 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 2,404.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,391,000 after acquiring an additional 317,634 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in Paychex by 2,139.2% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,667,000 after acquiring an additional 282,487 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.74 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.72. The stock has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of 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 reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.