Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Raised to $131.00 at TD Cowen

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $126.00 to $131.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 6.00% from the company’s previous close.

PAYX has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $139.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.19 and its 200-day moving average is $124.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $142.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Paychex by 85.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,263,000 after purchasing an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $774,000. Hedge funds and other 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.