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 Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Cowen dropped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 30th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on Paychex from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen decreased their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.23.
Paychex Stock Performance
Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $136.50. The company had a trading volume of 19,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,859,357. Paychex has a one year low of $106.55 and a one year high of $141.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $49.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.00.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly 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. Paychex had a return on equity of 43.65% and a net margin of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Paychex Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 10th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is 82.29%.
Insider Activity at Paychex
In related news, CFO Efrain Rivera sold 30,866 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $3,584,468.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,990,780.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 4,184 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.34, for a total transaction of $474,214.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,860,583.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Efrain Rivera sold 30,866 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $3,584,468.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,990,780.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 90,837 shares of company stock valued at $10,539,336. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company's stock.
