Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,308 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,887,000 after purchasing an additional 152,818 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,229,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 366.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Paychex by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Down 1.3 %

PAYX stock traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $117.80. The stock had a trading volume of 244,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,060. The firm has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 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. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.