Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,690 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 88,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,690 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in Paychex by 81.2% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 9,712 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 2,528 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 164,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,924,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Paychex by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,468,000 after buying an additional 18,103 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’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 value 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 approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,400,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.38. The company has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.