Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,449 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $5,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Paychex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,975,000 after purchasing an additional 178,316 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after purchasing an additional 246,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after purchasing an additional 182,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $118.81 on Wednesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.41. The firm has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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