OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Invests $659,000 in Paychex, Inc. $PAYX

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. MMA Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Paychex to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.38.

Paychex Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $90.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $92.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

Paychex announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.