Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given New $122.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

PAYX has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an in-line rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $122.62.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

PAYX opened at $117.84 on Thursday. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.06. The firm has a market cap of $42.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 72,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,803 shares during the period. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth about $284,000. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 12,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 159.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 173,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,062,000 after purchasing an additional 106,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.