Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 51,470 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,470 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.06% of Paychex worth $28,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 5,872 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.9% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 55,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,448,000 after buying an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.1% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 11.0% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 5.2 %

PAYX stock opened at $146.50 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $146.74 and its 200-day moving average is $141.95. The firm has a market cap of $52.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of 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. upped their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

About Paychex

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.