Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 272,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,071 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Paychex were worth $38,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.83.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $154.94 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.73. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.