Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and ten have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.55.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,807,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,907,314,000 after buying an additional 286,818 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after acquiring an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,474,000 after acquiring an additional 737,542 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,731,000 after purchasing an additional 181,628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of PAYX opened at $153.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.42. The company has a market cap of $55.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 90.00%.

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.