Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $132.23.

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $146.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,404,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,385. The firm's fifty day moving average is $143.06 and its 200 day moving average is $138.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $151.72.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex's payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

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.