Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. Buys 230 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 141,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,847,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $300,000. Two Point Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 21,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, GHE LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’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 directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.97. 2,400,533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

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.