Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $156.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $141.00 to $156.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 3.29% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.58.

Paychex Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $151.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.23.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after buying an additional 694,651 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.