Lafayette Investments Inc. Purchases 1,000 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 87,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Paychex makes up about 2.6% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $10,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 1.1 %

PAYX traded down $1.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $117.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,297,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,941. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.