Paychex, Inc. provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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. The company also provides HR solutions, including payroll, employer compliance, HR and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and the on-site availability of a professionally trained HR representative; and retirement services administration, including plan implementation, ongoing compliance with government regulations, employee and employer reporting, participant and employer online access, electronic funds transfer, and other administrative services. In addition, it offers cloud-based HR administration software products for employee benefits management and administration, time and attendance, digital communication solutions, recruiting, and onboarding solutions; plan administration outsourcing and state unemployment insurance services; various business services to small to medium-sized businesses comprising payroll funding and outsourcing services, which include payroll processing, invoicing, and tax preparation; and payment processing services, financial fitness programs, and a small-business loan resource center. Further, the company provides insurance services for property and casualty coverage, such as workers' compensation, business-owner policies, cyber security protection, and commercial auto, as well as health and benefits coverage, including health, dental, vision, and life. It markets and sells its services primarily through its direct sales force. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently weighed in on PAYX. Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $138.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $127.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.75.
Paychex Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $139.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.55 and a 12 month high of $141.92. The firm's 50-day moving average is $122.14 and its 200 day moving average is $124.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 29th. The business services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 30.20% and a return on equity of 43.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.
Paychex Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 11th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 10th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.29%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 4,184 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.34, for a total value of $474,214.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,860,583.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 4,184 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.34, for a total value of $474,214.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,860,583.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 1,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.81, for a total transaction of $144,552.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 51,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,022,682.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 90,837 shares of company stock worth $10,539,336 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company's stock.
