Novem Group Sells 5,927 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Novem Group decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 60.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,927 shares during the period. Novem Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ABC Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Paychex by 61.4% during the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after acquiring an additional 10,726 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 20.6% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,494,000 after purchasing an additional 41,114 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its position in shares of Paychex by 1,938.2% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,103,000 after purchasing an additional 45,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after purchasing an additional 19,185 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $93.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.55 and a 200 day moving average of $106.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.45 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

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

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Company Profile

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.