Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Lowered to $142.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $152.00 to $142.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

PAYX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $148.20.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $130.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.80 and a 200-day moving average of $145.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $128.23 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.53%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company Profile

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.