Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird lowered Paychex’s price target from $125 to $110 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 8.51% potential upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Paychex has an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $127.59, with 13 analysts rating it a hold and two rating it a sell.
• Paychex slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.34 in EPS versus the $1.32 consensus, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $1.63 billion.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the business services provider's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.51% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PAYX. Wolfe Research upgraded Paychex from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $117.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $127.59.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $101.37 on Monday. Paychex has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $130.32. The company has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $118.52 and a 200-day moving average of $104.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total transaction of $299,234.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $1,123,016,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,395,583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,243,295 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth about $2,728,970,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,411,341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,417,067,000 after buying an additional 361,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $434,061,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc is a provider of payroll, human resources, and workforce management solutions for businesses of varying sizes. Its offerings include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance tracking, employee benefits administration, retirement services, workers' compensation and business insurance, recruiting, and compliance support.

The company also provides professional employer organization services, helping businesses manage employment administration and human resources through an integrated platform.

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