Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 362 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 59.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 967 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Paychex were worth $136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.03 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.