Searle & CO. Acquires 200 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Searle & CO. boosted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 13.4% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 238.2% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 402 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Paychex by 1.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 736,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,983,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 10.8% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 29,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.60 on Wednesday, reaching $119.41. 1,441,143 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,812,091. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $121.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.