Brokerages Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target at $111.00

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paychex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th.

Paychex Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of PAYX opened at $116.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $117.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.82. Paychex has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $135.97.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 50.90% and a net margin of 27.03%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.34%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,574.23. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph M. Tucci sold 3,907 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.25, for a total transaction of $383,862.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 67,364 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,513. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Leonteq Securities AG increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2,669.2% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in Paychex during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.