Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stake Raised by Marino Stram & Associates LLC

Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $121.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 925,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,055. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.28 and a 200 day moving average of $120.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 77.56%.

Paychex 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.