Paychex, Inc. $PAYX Shares Bought by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,184 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Paychex were worth $23,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 17.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after buying an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $117,809,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 15.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 4,051,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $589,319,000 after buying an additional 557,101 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 38.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,856,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $235,286,000 after buying an additional 511,728 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 48.9% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,260,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,341,000 after buying an additional 414,196 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Argus upgraded Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim began coverage on Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.38.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $93.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.45 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.50.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.