New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 29,109 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 476,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,109 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Paychex were worth $56,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 188.1% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 2,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 63,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 11,669 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $121.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $122.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.33. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. 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 $43.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

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.