Analysts Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target at $133.23

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $133.23.

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $153.48 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.64. Paychex has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $154.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.