Intrust Bank NA Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Intrust Bank NA boosted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Paychex were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 170,453 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after purchasing an additional 178,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,481,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $516,858,000 after purchasing an additional 246,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Paychex by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,598,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,022,000 after buying an additional 182,648 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $119.41 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.40. The company has a market cap of $42.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.