Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $133.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Paychex from $132.00 to $133.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.25% from its current price.
• Paychex reported $1.22 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.20 and showing a revenue growth of 16.8% from the previous year.
• Institutional investors own approximately 83.47% of Paychex stock, indicating strong confidence in the company's future performance.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $132.00 to $133.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.25% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Paychex from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $141.36.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $1.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $127.58. The stock had a trading volume of 441,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,285,844. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex has a one year low of $119.02 and a one year high of $161.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.71.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Paychex during the second quarter valued at approximately $302,244,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Paychex by 99.0% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,494,312 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $539,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,372 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter worth $134,192,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,663,474,000 after buying an additional 737,542 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 179.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,078,328 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $156,854,000 after buying an additional 692,533 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Paychex

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.

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