Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $407,000 Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Paychex by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its position in Paychex by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $122.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,804,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,133. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

About Paychex

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.