KRS Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KRS Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.55.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $159.31 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $160.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted 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. The business 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors 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 yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s payout ratio 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.