Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Raises Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 55,701.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,978 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,509,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $101.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $155.57.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.63.

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.