Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 51,470 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 200,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,470 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Paychex were worth $28,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

Paychex Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.95. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

About Paychex

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.