Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 227,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,559 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $27,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $120.81 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.