Allstate Corp Buys Shares of 9,767 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Monument Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $151.03 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.37. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.58.

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.