Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Raised to $132.00 at Barclays

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $118.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $125.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $132.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.03. The stock has a market cap of $47.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $137.40.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,537,817 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,812,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $507,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 9,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.