Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $15.21 Million Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 108,343 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,207,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Monument Capital Management boosted its stake in Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.