Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Lowered to $122.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PAYX. Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $118.56 on Thursday. Paychex has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $122.38 and a 200-day moving average of $121.95.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after buying an additional 2,373,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Paychex by 155.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $146,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 229.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after purchasing an additional 793,468 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.