Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 5,379 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 176.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,431 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,379 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Monument Capital Management raised its holdings 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 worth $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in 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 in 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. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of PAYX traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $142.77. The company had a trading volume of 420,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,139. The firm has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $147.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

About Paychex

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.