Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 83.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,764 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Paychex were worth $4,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its stake in Paychex by 61.4% during the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,576,000 after buying an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 20.6% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,494,000 after buying an additional 41,114 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Paychex by 1,938.2% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,103,000 after buying an additional 45,781 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim started coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $94.25 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $161.24. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.50. The company has a market capitalization of $33.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.