Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $155.45 and last traded at $155.05, with a volume of 79234 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $153.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Paychex Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.95. The company has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $3,351,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,159,000 after buying an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 5,872 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.