Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $123.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $134.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $137.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex 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 owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817 in the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Paychex by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Paychex by 85.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after buying an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 82,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,880,000 after acquiring an additional 10,143 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paychex

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.