Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $142.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $137.00 to $142.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

PAYX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.58.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $151.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $148.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.30. Paychex has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,182,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 329,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,159,000 after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $142,055,000 after purchasing an additional 27,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 3,783 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is 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.