Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 2,158 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,352 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,158 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Paychex were worth $1,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued 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 given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Paychex Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.00 on Tuesday, reaching $152.25. The company had a trading volume of 4,289,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,987. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This is an increase from Paychex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex's payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.