Associated Banc Corp Sells 568 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Associated Banc Corp lessened its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $184,216,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $145.44 on Friday. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.06 and a 200 day moving average of $142.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Paychex Company 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.