Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 197,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,356 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.05% of Paychex worth $27,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 21,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 57,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,013,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,752,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 6,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Down 1.5 %

Paychex stock opened at $143.02 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.