Leisure Capital Management Sells 1,931 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Leisure Capital Management decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,931 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Paychex by 47.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,468,000 after purchasing an additional 18,103 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Paychex by 5.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 212,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,520,000 after purchasing an additional 10,609 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Paychex by 12.5% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 52,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 13.4% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

PAYX traded down $2.00 on Friday, reaching $119.97. 2,400,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.36. The company has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s 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 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 is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.