Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $2.04 Million Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 74.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,106 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,304 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Dohj LLC raised its position in Paychex by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dohj LLC now owns 3,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $119.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average of $120.40. 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 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Paychex 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.