Paradiem LLC Increases Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paradiem LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 38.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,435 shares during the period. Paychex comprises 2.0% of Paradiem LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Paradiem LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dohj LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 141,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,847,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $300,000. Finally, Two Point Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

PAYX stock traded down $2.00 on Friday, hitting $119.97. 2,400,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $121.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.38.

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

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.