Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 5,531 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 166,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,531 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $19,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 102,768.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after buying an additional 4,533,137 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 337.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $178,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191,539 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,631,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,441,000 after purchasing an additional 554,968 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $117.79 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

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

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Company Profile

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.