Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Sold by Costello Asset Management INC

Costello Asset Management INC trimmed its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,106 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $1,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Paychex by 152.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the second quarter worth $10,038,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Paychex by 30.0% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 143,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,960,000 after buying an additional 33,047 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 65,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,761,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 55.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 120,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,164,000 after acquiring an additional 42,728 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $147.67 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Paychex Profile

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.