Paymentus Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PAY) Stock Has Average Price Target of $38.67

Key Points

• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Paymentus, with an average 12-month price target of $38.67. Ratings include two buys, two strong buys and four holds, while Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage with a $42 target.
• Paymentus beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.25 EPS versus $0.19 expected and revenue of $360.74 million versus $345.44 million expected. Revenue increased 28.8% year over year.
• Insiders sold $5.74 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional ownership remains high at 78.38%. Shares opened at $31.74, compared with a 52-week range of $20.11 to $45.31.

Shares of Paymentus Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

PAY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Paymentus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Paymentus from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Paymentus from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Paymentus from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Paymentus in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sanjay Kalra sold 25,000 shares of Paymentus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $1,030,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 508,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,955,532.26. This trade represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Trainor sold 80,000 shares of Paymentus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.79, for a total value of $3,263,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 147,909 shares of company stock worth $5,735,337 over the last ninety days. 55.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paymentus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Paymentus by 42.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 835,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,227,000 after acquiring an additional 248,514 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Paymentus by 77.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 27,921 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Paymentus by 155.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 349,993 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,890,000 after acquiring an additional 212,778 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Paymentus in the second quarter worth approximately $2,008,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Paymentus by 83.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 72,999 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 33,278 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paymentus Price Performance

NYSE:PAY opened at $31.74 on Tuesday. Paymentus has a fifty-two week low of $20.11 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The stock's 50-day moving average is $35.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 48.09 and a beta of 1.34.

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $360.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.44 million. Paymentus had a return on equity of 15.26% and a net margin of 6.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paymentus will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Paymentus Company Profile

Paymentus Holdings, Inc NYSE: PAY provides cloud-based bill payment and electronic bill presentment technology. Its platform enables organizations to accept and process payments through digital and traditional channels, while helping customers manage billing, communications and payment-related interactions.

The company serves billers across industries including utilities, municipalities and other government entities, financial institutions, telecommunications providers, insurance companies, health-care organizations and education providers.

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