Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 6,002 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 107,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,002 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA raised 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 valued at $3,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 20.6% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Paychex by 1,938.2% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,103,000 after acquiring an additional 45,781 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5%

PAYX opened at $94.92 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.