Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $158.00 at Citigroup

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on PAYX. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.83.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $150.87. 1,049,015 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,058. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.