KFG Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KFG Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Paychex by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,419,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 581,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,542,000 after purchasing an additional 23,359 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $3,872,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

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

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

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.