Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $148.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.68% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PAYX. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.45. 748,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,764. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 over the last ninety days. 11.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 42.0% in 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. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Paychex by 152.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 805.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.