IHT Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

IHT Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,258 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,799 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,055,000 after purchasing an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,702 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $143.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business's 50 day moving average is $147.62 and its 200-day moving average is $144.67. The stock has a market cap of $51.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, 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.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.00.

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.

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