Wolfe Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective reduced by Wolfe Research from $145.00 to $140.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.20% from the stock’s previous close.

PAYX has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. 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 note on Tuesday, June 24th. 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. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $145.91.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $128.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Paychex has a 1 year low of $126.13 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at about $3,466,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,270,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 13.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 113,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,533,000 after acquiring an additional 13,214 shares in the last quarter. American Trust lifted its stake in Paychex by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 24,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.7% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 49,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,164,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.