Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Has $9.54 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $9,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 17.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $257,699,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $117,809,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $75,921,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $100.53 on Monday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $36.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.35.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Paychex Company 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.