Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 111,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,616 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $13,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 91.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $121.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.40 and a 200-day moving average of $120.48.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 77.56%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.