Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.62.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.54. The stock had a trading volume of 4,924,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 owns 17,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 51.1% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,561 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $570,000. Optas LLC increased its position in Paychex by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. now owns 13,033 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter worth $308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Company Profile

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.