Independence Bank of Kentucky Trims Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Independence Bank of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $159.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.12. The company has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.55.

About Paychex

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.