Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 31,795 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,458,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $144.16 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $147.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Paychex Company Profile

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.

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