Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Paychex's target price has been cut from $152.00 to $142.00 by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus, maintaining a "hold" rating on the stock.
• Currently, Paychex has a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average target price of $148.20 among analysts.
• CEO John B. Gibson recently sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock, reflecting a significant decrease in his ownership of the company.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $152.00 to $142.00 in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the business services provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price points to a potential upside of 8.90% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PAYX. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $148.20.

Paychex Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of PAYX stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $130.40. 4,327,176 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,326,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $138.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.65. Paychex has a one year low of $128.23 and a one year high of $161.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total transaction of $14,157,849.42. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,215,957 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,686,133,000 after acquiring an additional 408,114 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Paychex by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,066,067 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,046,050,000 after purchasing an additional 355,294 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,604,906,000 after buying an additional 251,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,481,053,000 after buying an additional 274,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $769,731,000 after buying an additional 181,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, 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.