Robert W. Baird Trims Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Target Price to $124.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective cut by Robert W. Baird from $126.00 to $124.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued an in-line rating and issued a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $122.62.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $118.56 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.90. The company has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in Paychex by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 16,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. American Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $3,815,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.