Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $142.00 at UBS Group

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price hoisted by UBS Group from $125.00 to $142.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on PAYX. 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 report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $138.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $142.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $130.45 and its 200-day moving average is $124.83.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085 over the last ninety days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,541,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,750,472,000 after buying an additional 123,268 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,687,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $320,151,000 after acquiring an additional 56,793 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,548,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,492,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.