Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Cut to $126.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target lowered by TD Cowen from $140.00 to $126.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on PAYX. Wolfe Research lowered their target price 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. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $142.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $124.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $136.59 and a 200-day moving average of $144.72. The company has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Paychex has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $161.24.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,466,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,270,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 13.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 113,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,533,000 after acquiring an additional 13,214 shares during the period. American Trust boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 24,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.