Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 52,413 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 217,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 52,413 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $25,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 337.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $178,162,000 after buying an additional 1,191,539 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Paychex by 8.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 26.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,441,000 after buying an additional 554,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $119.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.93. 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 data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.