Wealth Alliance Grows Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Paychex were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 102,768.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,359,000 after buying an additional 4,533,137 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 337.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $178,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,539 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Paychex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after acquiring an additional 927,584 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 26.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,441,000 after acquiring an additional 554,968 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $119.14 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.16. 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 one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The firm has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93.

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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. 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. TD Cowen lowered 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. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.