UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $140.00 to $132.00 in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.93% from the company’s current price.

PAYX has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $142.77.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $124.61 on Thursday. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $119.02 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.39.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation lifted its stake in Paychex by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its holdings in Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.