Intrust Bank NA Raises Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Amundi lifted its stake in Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in 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 buying an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $78,215,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

PAYX opened at $151.03 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

Paychex Company 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.