Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 35,407 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 122.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35,407 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.0 %

Paychex stock opened at $145.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.97. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The company has a market capitalization of $52.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

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.