First Financial Bank Trust Division Has $795,000 Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Financial Bank Trust Division cut its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 671 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Paychex were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after acquiring an additional 152,818 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 366.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 16,391 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Paychex by 218.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after acquiring an additional 466,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $124.89. 267,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,755,045. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.