Andra AP fonden Purchases 13,500 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Andra AP fonden grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Paychex were worth $14,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the fourth 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 period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2,404.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,391,000 after purchasing an additional 317,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 2.4 %

PAYX opened at $153.48 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $154.98. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $146.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.43. The company has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

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.