Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Paychex by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 5,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $842,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Paychex by 71.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,529,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance raised its stake in Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 6,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.65. The company had a trading volume of 489,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,724. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.16. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.