First City Capital Management Inc. Has $1.65 Million Stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First City Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Paychex comprises about 1.0% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $159.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.12. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Profile

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.