Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Paychex by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Paychex by 75.6% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth $6,371,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,419,000 after acquiring an additional 4,286 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 430,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after acquiring an additional 104,750 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Up 0.9 %

PAYX opened at $146.11 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.16.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, 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.