6,998 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Acquired by Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac

Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $785,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA lifted its holdings in Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,726 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,494,000 after acquiring an additional 41,114 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after acquiring an additional 19,185 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Paychex in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $96.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.37 and a 200-day moving average of $100.82.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.