Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 25,803 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,727 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 25,803 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Paychex worth $37,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 91.1% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,159,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $142,055,000 after buying an additional 27,296 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings 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 worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,783 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $2,405,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PAYX. UBS Group increased their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock traded up $2.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $146.75. 1,918,173 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,432. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS 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.