Stevens Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 2,521 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,887,000 after purchasing an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $1,229,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 366.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Paychex by 218.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $119.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,400,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,816,792. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.01 and its 200 day moving average is $120.36. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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. Two investment 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, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.