Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $1.03 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 61.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after buying an additional 178,316 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after acquiring an additional 246,791 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Paychex by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,022,000 after purchasing an additional 182,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,441,000 after acquiring an additional 554,968 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,354,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,539,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $44.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $122.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.48. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.