PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Acquires New Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $829,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Paychex by 47.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after acquiring an additional 50,169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Stephens reduced their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.07.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $97.99 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 stock has a market capitalization of $35.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.36. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $152.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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%.Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.85%.

Paychex Company 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.