Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,181 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 102.4% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,417 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $221,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 81.2% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 9,712 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 23.2% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 65.3% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.90 on Wednesday, hitting $122.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,803,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,133. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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