Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 0.1 %

Paychex stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $119.05. The stock had a trading volume of 353,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,388. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $122.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership 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.