Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Purchased by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,374 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $4,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $143.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,436,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,030. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.68.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.