Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Position Trimmed by Coastline Trust Co

Coastline Trust Co cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $2,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in 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 lifted its position in Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,215,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $144.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $147.94 and its 200 day moving average is $144.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $115.40 and a one year high of $158.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for 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%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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 boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.