Janiczek Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Janiczek Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 35.7% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 118.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 91,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 49,851 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,019,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $123.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $122.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.01. The stock has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.