Sei Investments Co. Boosts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,005 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $18,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,775,365,000 after purchasing an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,262,700,000 after buying an additional 190,937 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in Paychex by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,649,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,295,000 after buying an additional 82,091 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $151.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $148.13 and a 200-day moving average of $143.10. The stock has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

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.