Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $7.61 Million Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,899 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,669 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Paychex were worth $7,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,887,000 after purchasing an additional 152,818 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $1,229,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 366.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Paychex by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $80,794,000 after acquiring an additional 466,890 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised 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 reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $121.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,204,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,809,504. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $122.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.36.

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

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.