IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $4.58 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd decreased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 558 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $184,216,000. Amundi boosted its position in Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after buying an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after buying an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Paychex by 46.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after buying an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $150.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

Paychex Company 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.