Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 355,338 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,508 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.10% of Paychex worth $49,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. FMR LLC increased its position in Paychex by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 780,604 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $109,456,000 after purchasing an additional 30,085 shares in the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 37,222 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,219,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 4,480 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Paychex by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 42,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,959,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,299,297 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $322,407,000 after purchasing an additional 56,622 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note 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 presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Up 1.6 %

PAYX stock traded up $2.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $146.75. 1,918,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,432. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.37. The company has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. 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 (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.