Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and ten have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.46.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,823 shares of company stock valued at $16,977,648 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $126.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $129.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.90.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

About Paychex

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.