Allstate Corp Acquires Shares of 9,767 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $184,216,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $78,215,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $151.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.37. The company has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

Paychex Profile

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.