Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Grows Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

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

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Paychex in the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $119.33. The stock had a trading volume of 87,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,703. The company has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.16.

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

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s 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 owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.