Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 4,583,157 Shares of Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,583,157 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.80% of Paychex worth $4,750,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $117,809,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $589,319,000 after purchasing an additional 557,101 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 38.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $235,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,728 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Paychex by 48.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,260,376 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $155,341,000 after acquiring an additional 414,196 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Paychex by 29.2% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 1,761,962 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $219,139,000 after acquiring an additional 398,696 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $89.93 on Tuesday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.07.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. Paychex's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas "Tom" Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company's core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers' compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.

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