Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Lowered to $105.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $110.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PAYX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Paychex to $130.00 in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $117.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.69.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $108.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Paychex has a twelve month low of $105.66 and a twelve month high of $141.92. The company has a market cap of $39.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.88.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.50% and a net margin of 30.45%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 13,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.30, for a total value of $1,584,683.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,835,800.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,982,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,476,595,000 after purchasing an additional 642,649 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,275,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,397,188,000 after acquiring an additional 411,556 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Paychex by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,277,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,489,852,000 after acquiring an additional 107,263 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Paychex by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,228,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,066,503,000 after purchasing an additional 125,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Paychex by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,919,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $914,345,000 after purchasing an additional 105,504 shares in the last quarter. 71.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Paychex

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Paychex, Inc engages in the provision of human capital management solutions for payroll, human resources, insurance and retirement for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions include payroll services, hiring services, business insurance, time and attendance, employee benefits, finance and payments, human resources services and startup services.