Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Paychex by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 5,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

Paychex stock opened at $117.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.14. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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.