Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $12,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Paychex by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $6,371,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,419,000 after acquiring an additional 4,286 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Paychex by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 44,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,256,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.23.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $147.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $142.31 and a 200-day moving average of $136.65. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $53.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.