M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 148,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,679 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $17,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 751.5% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 90,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,767,000 after buying an additional 79,784 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 111,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,283,000 after buying an additional 28,616 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 23,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.4 %

PAYX stock traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $120.10. 1,540,545 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,951,709. The stock has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly 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 firm 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. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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