Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,336 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $52,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $92.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $92.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.99. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, January 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.