Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Lowered to $124.00 at Robert W. Baird

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $126.00 to $124.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an in-line rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

Paychex stock opened at $117.84 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $42.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rogco LP boosted its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.