Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.77.

PAYX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in Paychex by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Paychex by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $138.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $142.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $130.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.85.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

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.