Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given New $131.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $126.00 to $131.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 7.36% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.71.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.40. 1,186,336 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,818,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.49. The company has a market cap of $50.90 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $142.04.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,007,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,494,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 48,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,047 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in Paychex by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 73,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.