Twin Capital Management Inc. Purchases 1,435 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $118.67. 988,008 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,330. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.16. The company has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. 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 results 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. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase 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.

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.