Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives $131.62 Consensus PT from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.62.

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $146.27 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $141.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.74. The company has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,775,365,000 after buying an additional 60,455 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,142,000 after purchasing an additional 345,682 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after acquiring an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 19.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after purchasing an additional 384,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $212,267,000 after buying an additional 113,856 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.