Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake 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 worth $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 6.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,159,000 after acquiring an additional 20,064 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,055,000 after acquiring an additional 27,296 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $144.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $147.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.89.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.