Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.00.

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,930 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $142,055,000 after purchasing an additional 27,296 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Paychex by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,936 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth about $2,405,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 424,160 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,918,000 after buying an additional 13,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $143.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex has a 52 week low of $115.40 and a 52 week high of $158.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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