First City Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,127 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First City Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 9.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,127 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 286.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 166.7% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.1 %

PAYX stock opened at $133.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.82. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $137.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.