Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 851 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 851 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX traded down $1.78 on Tuesday, reaching $119.03. The company had a trading volume of 579,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,849. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.41. The company has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93. 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 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70.

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

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.