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

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.63.

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $114.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $117.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Paychex has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $115.60 and its 200 day moving average is $115.74. The company has a market cap of $42.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.97.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 27th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.40% and a return on equity of 46.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 80.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 41,329 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.79, for a total transaction of $4,785,484.91. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,292,642. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Paychex by 113.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 19,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 10,092 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.0% in the second quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 17,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.1% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 432,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,520,000 after purchasing an additional 32,276 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management raised its stake in Paychex by 8.7% during the first quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 30,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in Paychex by 3.6% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 10,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 72.18% of the stock is currently 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.