Analysts Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT at $131.62

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $131.62.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. 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 note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $139.54 on Friday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $142.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,775,365,000 after acquiring an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 345,682 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 2.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $212,267,000 after purchasing an additional 113,856 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.