Howe & Rusling Inc. Acquires 7,304 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 74.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,304 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Paychex by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 760,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,709,000 after purchasing an additional 185,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 295,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,024,000 after acquiring an additional 24,082 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.5% during the third quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $119.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $42.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.40. 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 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.