Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given New $132.00 Price Target at Barclays

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $118.00 to $132.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 1.22% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PAYX. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.08.

Paychex Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $133.63 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $128.47 and its 200-day moving average is $124.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $137.40. The company has a market capitalization of $48.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 in the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 286.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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.