Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and ten have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.00.
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Paychex
Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex
In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Paychex Stock Up 1.6 %
NASDAQ PAYX traded up $2.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $146.41. 2,130,524 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,919,562. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $147.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.88.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.
About Paychex
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Get Free ReportPaychex, 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.
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