JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $133.00 to $139.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

PAYX has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.3 %

PAYX opened at $144.46 on Tuesday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $140.18 and a 200-day moving average of $129.92. The stock has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 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 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.58%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Paychex by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $2,796,000. PGGM Investments increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 57.7% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.6% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after purchasing an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.