Barclays Cuts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $118.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $120.00 to $118.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PAYX. Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen cut 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.46.

Paychex Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $117.43 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.78. The stock has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Rogco LP raised its stake in Paychex by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.