Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given New $137.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $142.00 to $137.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $142.83.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $124.01 on Wednesday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $119.02 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The firm has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 18.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 19,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,046,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.4% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.1% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 3,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 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.