Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $155.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.83.

Paychex Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $154.94 on Monday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $148.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.73.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.