Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 141,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,847,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Two Point Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 21,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAYX. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $2.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $119.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,400,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.36. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

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. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Company 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.