Associated Banc Corp Sells 75 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Associated Banc Corp cut its stake in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Paychex were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth $2,796,000. PGGM Investments increased its position in Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after buying an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Paychex by 6.6% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,657,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last 90 days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

PAYX stock opened at $145.26 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.21. The firm has a market cap of $52.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

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.