Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Buys 389 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 188.1% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Paychex by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. raised its position in Paychex by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 2,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 63,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,611,000 after purchasing an additional 11,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.80. 489,248 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,807,438. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.