Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,020 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 6,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 4,234.8% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 7,665 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 133,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,699 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $25,430,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $148.40 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $151.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $53.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

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.