Korea Investment CORP Has $22.90 Million Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 85.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,417 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Paychex were worth $22,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,159,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $151.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $148.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.30. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.67%.

About Paychex

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.