Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $141.00 to $156.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 3.87% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.75.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $150.19 on Thursday. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.03 and its 200-day moving average is $143.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth raised its stake in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring 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.