Costello Asset Management INC Trims Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Costello Asset Management INC lowered its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.2% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $147.67 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.19. The stock has a market cap of $53.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.00.

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 net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAYX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.