First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 398 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.2% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $144.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Paychex Company 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.