Marino Stram & Associates LLC Purchases 122 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 0.6 %

Paychex stock opened at $144.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.83. Paychex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.