Xponance Inc. Has $8.76 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,495 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,931,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,943,000 after purchasing an additional 170,453 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Paychex by 8.9% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $913,599,000 after acquiring an additional 62,739 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 102,768.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,533,137 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $118.95. 330,024 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,792,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.14.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.