Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.79% of Paychex worth $1,408,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Paychex by 2,404.5% in 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. Unigestion Holding SA grew its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Paychex by 334.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 260,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,966,000 after acquiring an additional 200,640 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $153.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $55.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $154.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.91. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.