Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Cut to $118.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $120.00 to $118.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on PAYX. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $117.43 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 343,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,887,000 after acquiring an additional 152,818 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 366.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 16,391 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $1,229,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 218.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 680,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,794,000 after purchasing an additional 466,890 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.