TD Cowen Cuts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $94.00

Key Points

• TD Cowen cut its price target on Paychex to $94 (from $95) and maintained a "hold" rating, implying roughly a 2.6% upside from the prior close.
• Multiple brokerages have trimmed targets and ratings recently, leaving MarketBeat's consensus at a "Reduce" with a $108.75 consensus price target.
• Paychex beat the quarter with $1.71 EPS vs. $1.67 expected and $1.81B revenue (up 19.9% YoY), and its board approved a $1.0 billion share buyback (about 2.5% of shares).

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $95.00 to $94.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the business services provider's stock. TD Cowen's price objective points to a potential upside of 2.61% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PAYX. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Paychex to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $108.75.

Paychex Trading Down 0.3%

PAYX opened at $91.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.50 and a 200 day moving average of $108.63. Paychex has a 12 month low of $86.89 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 5.3% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 7,664 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,115,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Paychex by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 36,096 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,251,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas "Tom" Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company's core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers' compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.

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