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

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $137.00 to $142.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

PAYX stock opened at $151.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $148.13 and a 200-day moving average of $143.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Monument Capital Management grew its position in Paychex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is 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.