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

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $132.23.

Several analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.53 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.36 and its 200 day moving average is $134.67. 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 stock has a market cap of $50.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 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 net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 60,455 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,524,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,278,142,000 after acquiring an additional 345,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 190,937 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 19.5% in 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 buying an additional 384,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 6.8% during 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 buying an additional 113,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.