Ardevora Asset Management LLP Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131,324 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 136,130 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up about 1.4% of Ardevora Asset Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Ardevora Asset Management LLP's holdings in Paychex were worth $15,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its position in Paychex by 2.3% during the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 6.3% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC increased its position in Paychex by 1.1% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a 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 report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Paychex Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $119.52. 2,643,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,090,025. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $122.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $43.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.