Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 83.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 93,661 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $117,809,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Paychex by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Paychex by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,728 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Paychex by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,260,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,341,000 after purchasing an additional 414,196 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.82. The stock has a market cap of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.38.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.