Twin Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $143.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

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 $0.98 dividend. 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 81.67%.

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.