RWC Asset Management LLP Sells 13,034 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

RWC Asset Management LLP cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,034 shares during the period. Paychex comprises 1.6% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. RWC Asset Management LLP owned 0.06% of Paychex worth $26,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Paychex by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,103 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Paychex by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 212,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,520,000 after purchasing an additional 10,609 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Paychex by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 52,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.97. The company had a trading volume of 2,400,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.94 and a 200-day moving average of $120.36. The company has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex 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.