Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $525,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Independence Bank of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Paychex were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $146,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares during the period. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,494,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Paychex by 123.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,386,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $165,141,000 after purchasing an additional 766,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $118.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.95. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.