Cibc World Markets Corp Acquires 66,919 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 129.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,919 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $16,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after purchasing an additional 552,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $147.99 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.29 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.