Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $139.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $133.00 to $139.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price points to a potential downside of 1.18% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on PAYX. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.66. 1,351,572 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,786,722. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $150.71. The firm has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total value of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unigestion Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2,139.2% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 295,692 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $39,667,000 after buying an additional 282,487 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the third quarter worth $210,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 34.7% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 40,737 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,466,000 after acquiring an additional 10,502 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,243 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

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.