First Trust Advisors LP Sells 108,272 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,993,572 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 108,272 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.55% of Paychex worth $279,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $184,216,000. Amundi lifted its position in Paychex by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $215,164,000 after purchasing an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $189,746,000 after buying an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $78,215,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $143.81. 631,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,914,415. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $51.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $147.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex 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.