Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,374 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,980 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,515,000 after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,702 shares during the period. 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 a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

PAYX traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $143.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 497,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,909. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $158.37. The stock's 50-day moving average is $147.62 and its 200-day moving average is $144.67.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.