Foster & Motley Inc. Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 29.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 102.4% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.7% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 164,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $122.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued 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. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

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.