Capital International Inc. CA Has $45.79 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Capital International Inc. CA increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 69.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 408,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 166,832 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $45,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Paychex by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,395,583,000 after buying an additional 11,243,295 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,093,958,000 after buying an additional 78,760 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in 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 worth $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 worth $355,650,000 after buying an additional 31,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $100.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.42. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex 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.