CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Paychex were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $2,419,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 41,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 8,958 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $982,000. Finally, Emerald Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PAYX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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 research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group upped 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 raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $150.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.63. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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.