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

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $132.23.

Several research firms have issued reports on PAYX. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 over the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,918,000 after buying an additional 13,702 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,055,000 after acquiring an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 9,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Paychex by 3.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 62,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $50.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.90. Paychex has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

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.