Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $143.02 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, 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 $147.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

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.