KRS Capital Management LLC Sells 978 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

KRS Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 17.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 978 shares during the quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in Paychex by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PAYX. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $118.56. 6,556,909 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,830. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.