Northern Trust Corp Raises Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $674,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $144.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.34 and its 200 day moving average is $144.87. The company has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.00.

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.