Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Wedbush

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by research analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $115.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target suggests a potential downside of 4.16% from the company’s current price. Wedbush also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.08 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $119.99 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 102,768.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,204,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,520 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter worth $146,617,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Paychex by 337.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $178,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,539 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 229.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,456 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.