Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and ten have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.58.

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 23.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 241,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $151.03 on Friday. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

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.