Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.34% of Paychex worth $674,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Monument Capital Management raised its position in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.00.

Paychex 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.