Analysts Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT at $132.23

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $132.23.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $147.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.69. The firm has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 42.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.