Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 35,918 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its Paychex stake by 5.4%, adding 35,918 shares to hold 706,971 shares (about 0.20% of the company) valued at roughly $76.8 million at quarter-end.
• Paychex raised its quarterly dividend to $1.19 (annualized $4.76) for a ~5.0% yield and authorized a $1.0 billion share buyback program that can repurchase up to about 2.5% of outstanding shares.
• Several analysts have trimmed price targets recently and MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Reduce" with a $106.38 target, even as Paychex beat quarterly EPS and reported ~19.9% year‑over‑year revenue growth.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 706,971 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 35,918 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.20% of Paychex worth $76,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,750,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in Paychex by 15.9% in 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,805,391 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $355,650,000 after purchasing an additional 31,321 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,280,715 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $330,908,000 after purchasing an additional 17,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,979,330 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $250,900,000 after purchasing an additional 30,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Paychex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $94.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $92.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.62. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $85.45 and a one year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex's revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 95.15%.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Paychex

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PAYX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.