9,527 Shares in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Acquired by Reflection Asset Management

Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 9,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 23.9% in the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after purchasing an additional 19,185 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Paychex by 35.9% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 63,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 16,812 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA raised its stake in Paychex by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 40,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,545,000 after purchasing an additional 22,527 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 79,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,942,000 after purchasing an additional 11,805 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.19.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $98.24 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $152.57. The firm has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.64.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

About Paychex

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.