Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 61,227 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,483,579 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 61,227 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.41% of Paychex worth $176,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,887,000 after acquiring an additional 152,818 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,229,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Paychex by 218.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 466,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 366.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $117.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,297,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,941. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.14. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

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.