Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 840 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth 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 period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.1% in 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 0.4 %

PAYX opened at $121.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.01 and its 200 day moving average is $120.36. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.