BNP Paribas Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

BNP Paribas raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 25,260.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,461 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Paychex were worth $2,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after buying an additional 5,549,511 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $257,699,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $117,809,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $75,921,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $100.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.68. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Profile

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.