First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,786 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Paychex were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,557,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 169.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,182,000 after purchasing an additional 4,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $146.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $52.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.30.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

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.