Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Raised to “Strong Sell” at Cantor Fitzgerald

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

PAYX has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $128.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $123.94.

Paychex Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $102.45 on Tuesday. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $102.09 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.56 and a 200 day moving average of $124.18.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.38% and a net margin of 26.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.480-5.530 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,787,151,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,511 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,066,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,046,050,000 after buying an additional 355,294 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paychex by 2.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,604,906,000 after buying an additional 251,139 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,481,053,000 after buying an additional 274,947 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Paychex by 6.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,384,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $637,820,000 after acquiring an additional 249,550 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.