BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Grows Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 329,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,302 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Paychex were worth $46,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $144.90 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.