Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 317,634 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 2,404.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 330,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 317,634 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.09% of Paychex worth $46,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Paychex by 152.6% in the second 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. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 1.8 %

PAYX stock opened at $144.27 on Thursday. Paychex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $142.40 and its 200-day moving average is $134.84. The firm has a market cap of $51.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors 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 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.53%.

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.