Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 642 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,887,000 after buying an additional 152,818 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,229,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,794,000 after buying an additional 466,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 366.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $117.79 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.14.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

About Paychex

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.