Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 1,330 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Paychex were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the third quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 91.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $123.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 77.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

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.