Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,669 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Paychex were worth $7,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after acquiring an additional 170,453 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,849,000 after acquiring an additional 927,584 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,975,000 after acquiring an additional 178,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after acquiring an additional 246,791 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 5.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after acquiring an additional 182,648 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $122.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $122.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.93. 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 1 year low of $104.09 and a 1 year high of $129.70.

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

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.