Brokerages Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target at $123.00

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.00.

Several analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Paychex stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.00. 2,004,438 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,146,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.09. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.56%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.