Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $16.98 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,812 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 3.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Paychex by 47.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,790,000 after purchasing an additional 50,169 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Paychex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.19.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $98.24 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $152.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.64. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Paychex Profile

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.