Analysts Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target at $137.58

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $138.83.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAYX. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 220.7% during 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 during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $154.59 on Friday. Paychex has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $55.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.65.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.67%.

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.