UBS Group Cuts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $132.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price lowered by UBS Group from $140.00 to $132.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $124.61 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex has a 1-year low of $119.02 and a 1-year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company’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 transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 122.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.