Valmark Advisers Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Valmark Advisers Inc. cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Paychex by 91.5% during the third 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 acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Paychex by 39.8% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of PAYX traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,400,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $121.94 and its 200 day moving average is $120.38. The firm has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price 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 given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.