Novem Group Reduces Stock Position in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

Novem Group cut its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,927 shares during the quarter. Novem Group’s holdings in Paychex were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. ABC Arbitrage SA raised its stake in Paychex by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 28,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after buying an additional 10,726 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $1,877,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 240,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,494,000 after buying an additional 41,114 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1,938.2% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 48,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,103,000 after acquiring an additional 45,781 shares during the period. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 23.9% in the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 99,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,626,000 after acquiring an additional 19,185 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Paychex from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $93.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Company Profile

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.