Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Acquires 12,200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,200 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 47.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after buying an additional 50,169 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.63.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $100.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $36.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.95 and a 200 day moving average of $100.07. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $154.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 104.85%.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.