Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Paymentus from “buy” to “hold,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $38.86.
• Paymentus reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $0.25 per share versus $0.19 expected and revenue of $360.74 million, up 28.8% year over year.
• The stock opened at $33.36, while insiders sold 147,909 shares worth $5.74 million over the past three months; institutional investors own 78.38% of the company.

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Broker raised Paymentus to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paymentus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Paymentus in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Paymentus from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Paymentus from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Paymentus presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.86.

Paymentus Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE PAY opened at $33.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.82. Paymentus has a twelve month low of $20.11 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.55 and a beta of 1.34.

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.06. Paymentus had a net margin of 6.24% and a return on equity of 15.26%. The firm had revenue of $360.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $345.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Paymentus will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paymentus

In other news, CFO Sanjay Kalra sold 2,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total transaction of $117,087.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 505,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,350,279.25. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Trainor sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.79, for a total transaction of $3,263,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 509,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,798,331.52. The trade was a 13.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,909 shares of company stock valued at $5,735,337. Company insiders own 55.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paymentus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paymentus by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Paymentus in the first quarter worth $41,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paymentus by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Paymentus during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Paymentus in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Paymentus

Paymentus Holdings, Inc is a technology company that provides cloud-based bill payment and electronic billing solutions. Its platform enables organizations to present bills, collect payments and communicate with customers through digital channels, including web and mobile applications, text messaging, interactive voice response, payment kiosks and customer service representatives.

The company primarily serves billers in industries such as utilities, financial services, government, telecommunications, insurance and other recurring-payment sectors.

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