Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Has $278,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Paychex were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Barclays decreased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $119.33. 87,742 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,782,703. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.16. 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 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management 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.