Robert W. Baird Lowers Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $148.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $153.00 to $148.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.92% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.83.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $123.42 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $136.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.55. Paychex has a 52 week low of $119.02 and a 52 week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The business’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 83.8% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.