Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Wealth Alliance

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $119.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.16.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.