Grandfield & Dodd LLC Reduces Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 380,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up approximately 3.1% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Paychex worth $45,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 6.3% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 1.1% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.5 %

PAYX traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.52. 2,643,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,090,025. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $122.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

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