Wright Investors Service Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $119.05. The company had a trading volume of 353,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,388. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $122.20 and a 200 day moving average of $120.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup lowered 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. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.