Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Cut to $150.00 by Analysts at Argus

Key Points

• Analysts at Argus have cut Paychex's target price from $170.00 to $150.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.75% from the stock's previous close.
• Paychex reported quarterly earnings of $1.22 EPS, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.02, with revenues up 16.8% year-over-year.
• Chairman Martin Mucci and CEO John B. Gibson have both recently sold shares in the company, with Mucci selling 97,526 shares and Gibson selling 12,370 shares, indicating a decrease in their positions.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by research analysts at Argus from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. Argus' target price suggests a potential upside of 21.75% from the stock's previous close.

PAYX has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $142.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $123.20 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $136.13 and its 200-day moving average is $144.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $44.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Paychex's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,669.60. This 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its position in Paychex by 122.3% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.