Xponance Inc. Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Xponance Inc. reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,495 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 19,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 56,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 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. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAYX. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 330,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,814. 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 fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $122.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often 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.