Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $148.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $140.00 to $148.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Paychex Stock Down 1.4%

PAYX opened at $150.32 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $151.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation boosted its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in Paychex by 0.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.