PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Invests $6.73 Million in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 59,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,727,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,750,669,000 after buying an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after buying an additional 78,760 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,805,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $355,650,000 after buying an additional 31,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,455,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $275,451,000 after buying an additional 33,467 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $100.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Company Profile

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.