Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lessened its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 91.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 39.8% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 421,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,806,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $122.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.30. The company has a market capitalization of $43.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.