Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $158.00 at Citigroup

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target upped by Citigroup from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $151.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.10. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its position in Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.