Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Purchased by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Raiffeisen Bank International AG boosted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 949.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,800 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after acquiring an additional 50,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 1.8%

PAYX opened at $99.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.07. The company has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87 and a beta of 0.84. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $154.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The company’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $1.19 dividend. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned 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 has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.63.

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.