KFG Wealth Management LLC Sells 639 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KFG Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Monument Capital Management increased its position in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $159.78 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $57.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.55.

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.