Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.00.

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,623,093,000 after purchasing an additional 487,031 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Paychex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Paychex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after purchasing an additional 927,584 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,599,000 after purchasing an additional 62,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,975,000 after purchasing an additional 178,316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $123.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.23 and its 200 day moving average is $120.06. Paychex has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

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.