Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective boosted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $133.00 to $139.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 2.00% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $141.83 on Tuesday. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.65.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,238,000 after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,796,000. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 21,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,573,000 after buying an additional 7,943 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 64,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,657,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after buying an additional 212,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.